I have mixed feelings about this one.

I love the fact that it specifically talks about the different ways someone can 'ping' - that the ways we show kindness and affection are different for everyone.
I also love how it teaches that you are never owed a 'pong' - that whether someone responds to our kindness, how they do so, or when, is not within our control and should not be expected.

The overall moral and core of this books is something I truly love.

However, I found the layout, and the extension of the metaphor itself to be really confusing for me:
The sentence text is often in strange places on the page so can be hard to follow.
The illustrations of the little Ping within the ping-pong ball were honestly a little unnerving.
And the metaphor itself just seemed to go on for too long, and it kept adding on more information to the point where it just overwhelmed me too much.

I'm not sure how well children would relate to this without firm structure and explanation from an adult, but it definitely carries a moral I would encourage.

Okay I really liked this one.

A sweet little story about a friendly dragon who lives in a cave full of books. He desperately wants to share his stories and knowledge with other people, but all the humans in the village hide from him whenever he visits.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, he finds a friend in a little girl who also loves books, and together they figure out a way to share all their favourite stories.

I just love the idea of a shy, misunderstood, bookwormdragon who just wants to make friends and share stories. Definitely a new favourite. And beautifully illustrated too!

"How can I become,
Not knowing what Dad has done?
Is a seed free
To decide the tree it will be?"
- Wandering

Definitely aimed at slightly older children. Would be a great one for Y6. Mixed opinions overall but I love the aim, the topic, and some absolute gems within.

An amazing collection of short stories, detailing the lives and achievements of 34 incredible and disabled humans.

I love so much about this book.
It is written by a disabled author - so the language that is used, the community it portrays and the values it highlights are own voice and accurate. Cerrie uses identity first language ('disabled person' not 'person with a disability') and talks about the personal, everyday achievements of individuals alongside the inspirational.

The book has a good balance of historical vs current figures, a massive range of specialist areas, and spans across the world.
It also takes time to talk about hidden disabilities, mental health, and highlights complex prejudices such as race and gender alongside disability.

All of this is done in a child friendly way that both disabled and non-disabled children will be able to relate to, find incredibly inspiring at the right times, but also gain a clear understanding that inspiration is not the only worth a disabled person can have.

I only scored 4 stars as the copy I read was released in 2020 and contains a section where the life of Demi Lovato is discussed, with considerable (understandable) migendering. I would be interested to see if future editions are edited (which from the tone of the rest of the book, I imagine is highly likely) .

I truly respect both Gaiman and Riddell, and I enjoy a lot of both of their works. There are some absolute gems of quotes and art in this little book that I would love to create posters of to have in my classroom.
However I also think its entirely healthy to say I have different viewpoints to other parts of Gaiman's outlook, in fact, he says so himself in the first section of this book!

Some gems I loved:
> "Everything changes when we read."
> "Fiction builds empathy. Fiction is something you build up from twenty-six letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world... and when you return to your own world, you're going to be slightly changed."
> "The urge, starting out, is to copy. And that's not a bad thing. Most of us only find our own voice after we've sounded like a lot of other people. But the one thing you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision."

Something I differ on:
"People who know what they are doing know the rules, and know what is possible and impossible. You do not. And you should not...if you don't know it's impossible it's easier to do."

Oooh I'm sorry there Neil but if anything, knowing the rules and being told something is impossible, powers me more than anything else. Knowing the rules helps me play the system built against me, and knowing that what not to do, or what people have said is impossible is wrong, fuels me to be the one to do it.
Without learning those rules as a foundation, I would never feel confident enough to break them. How do I break something I don't know exists? Pure luck? Learning what I'm supposed to do first gives me a power to knowingly not. Knowing what's wrong gives me evidence and reason to tear it down.
There's a privilege and a confidence in choosing not to know and push onwards anyway that I envy, but also could never justify.